PURPOSE: Nosocomial infection is a major threat to the health care system and patient welfare. After the pandemic, new protocols were established in hospitals and communities to protect against the transmission of COVID-19, which may have changed the incidence of nosocomial transmission. This study was conducted to compare the incidence of nosocomial infection before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study performed on trauma patients who were admitted, from May 22, 2018 to November 22, 2021, to the largest level-1 trauma center in Shiraz, Iran (Shahid Rajaei Trauma Hospital). All the trauma patients over 15 years old admitted during the study time were included in this study. Individuals who were declared dead upon arrival were excluded. Patients were evaluated in 2 periods: before the pandemic (May 22, 2018 - February 19, 2020) and after the pandemic (February 19, 2020 - November 22, 2021). Patients were assessed based on demographic information (age, gender, length of hospital stay, and patient outcome), the occurrence of hospital infection, and the type of infection. The analysis was done using SPSS version 25. RESULTS: Overall, 60,561 patients were admitted, with a mean age of 40 years. Nosocomial infection was diagnosed in 4.00% (n = 2423) of all admitted patients. The incidence rate of post-COVID-19 hospital-acquired infections decreased by 16.28% (p < 0.001) when compared to before the pandemic; in contrast, surgical site infection (p < 0.001) and urinary tract infection (p = 0.043) were responsible for this change, while hospital-acquired pneumonia (p = 0.568) and bloodstream infection (p = 0.156) were not significantly different. Overall mortality was 1.79%, while 28.52% of all patients with nosocomial infections died. During the pandemic, there was a 25.78% increase (p < 0.001) in the overall incidence rate of mortality, which was also observed among patients with nosocomial infections (17.84%). CONCLUSION The incidence of nosocomial infection has decreased during the pandemic, possibly due to the use of more personal protective equipment and modified protocols after the outbreak. This also explains the difference in the change in incidence rates of nosocomial infection subtypes.
Humans ; Adult ; Adolescent ; Cross Infection/prevention & control* ; Incidence ; Retrospective Studies ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Pandemics/prevention & control* ; Prospective Studies ; Infection Control

INTRODUCTION: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are a critical resource in the effort to control the COVID-19 pandemic. They are also a sentinel surveillance population whose clinical status reflects the effectiveness of the hospital's infection prevention measures in the pandemic. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted in Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a 1,822-bed tertiary hospital. Participants were all HCWs working in SGH during the study period. HCW protection measures included clinical workflows and personal protective equipment developed and adapted to minimise the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. HCW monitoring comprised staff contact logs in high-risk locations, twice-daily temperature monitoring, assessment of HCWs with acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) in the staff clinic and, in the event of an exposure, extensive contact tracing, detailed risk assessment and risk-based interventions. HCW surveillance utilised monitoring data and ARI presentations and outcomes. RESULTS: In the ten-week period between 6 January 2020 and 16 March 2020, 333 (17.1%) of 1,946 HCWs at risk of occupational COVID-19 presented with ARI. 32 (9.6%) screened negative for SARS-CoV-2 from throat swabs. Five other HCWs developed COVID-19 attributed to non-clinical exposures. From the nine COVID-19 exposure episodes investigated, 189 HCW contacts were identified, of whom 68 (36.2%) were placed on quarantine and remained well. CONCLUSION Early in an emerging infectious disease outbreak, close monitoring of frontline HCWs is essential in ascertaining the effectiveness of infection prevention measures. HCWs are at risk of community disease acquisition and should be monitored and managed to prevent onward transmission.
Humans ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Pandemics/prevention & control* ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control* ; Sentinel Surveillance ; Retrospective Studies ; Infection Control ; Health Personnel

INTRODUCTION: This review aims to examine asthma management during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: Relevant recommendations and articles were identified by respiratory professional societies and PubMed search using the terms "asthma" and "COVID-19", and examined for relevance and inclusion in this study. RESULTS: Recommendations for the management of asthma have remained similar but are now supported by new evidence between the years 2020 and 2022. Patients with well-controlled, mild-to-moderate asthma are unlikely to be at increased risk of acquiring COVID-19 or having worse outcomes from COVID-19. All asthma patients should receive COVID-19 vaccination. Spirometry can be performed with the usual strict infection control procedures unless there is a suspicion of COVID-19. Mask-wearing and other health measures remain important for asthma patients. CONCLUSION While previous recommendations were largely based on expert opinion, the tremendous amount of literature published since the pandemic first emerged 2 years ago has helped guide respiratory professional bodies to update their recommendations. This study provides a timely review of the various recommendations and can be used to guide healthcare professionals in managing asthma patients, as the world prepares for a future with COVID-19 becoming endemic. The long-term consequences of COVID-19 infection in asthma patients and the ripple effects of COVID-19 remain uncertain and deserve ongoing study.
Adult ; Humans ; COVID-19 ; Pandemics/prevention & control* ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; Asthma/epidemiology* ; Infection Control

Flavivirus ; Humans ; Immunity ; Vaccines ; Zika Virus ; Zika Virus Infection/prevention & control*

In the current stage of prevention and control of the Omicron variant of the pandemic, makeshift hospitals played a key role in isolating and treating mild and asymptomatic patient, which helped to completely and quickly block the spread of the epidemic in the society. In order to reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19 in makeshift hospital, prevent occupational exposure and nosocomial infections, it is necessary for all levels to actively identify risk sources, carry the risk assessment, implement comprehensive infection control risk treat, and supervise in a timely manner.
COVID-19 ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Pandemics/prevention & control* ; Risk Assessment ; SARS-CoV-2

COVID-19/transmission* ; COVID-19 Testing ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control* ; Intraoperative Care ; Pandemics ; Personal Protective Equipment ; Postoperative Care ; Preoperative Care ; Tracheostomy/methods*

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging pathogen associated with neurological complications, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults and microcephaly in fetuses and newborns. This mosquito-borne flavivirus causes important social and sanitary problems owing to its rapid dissemination. However, the development of antivirals against ZIKV is lagging. Although various strategies have been used to study anti-ZIKV agents, approved drugs or vaccines for the treatment (or prevention) of ZIKV infections are currently unavailable. Repurposing clinically approved drugs could be an effective approach to quickly respond to an emergency outbreak of ZIKV infections. The well-established safety profiles and optimal dosage of these clinically approved drugs could provide an economical, safe, and efficacious approach to address ZIKV infections. This review focuses on the recent research and development of agents against ZIKV infection by repurposing clinical drugs. Their characteristics, targets, and potential use in anti-ZIKV therapy are presented. This review provides an update and some successful strategies in the search for anti-ZIKV agents are given.
Adult ; Animals ; Drug Repositioning ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Microcephaly ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; Zika Virus ; Zika Virus Infection/prevention & control*

Adult ; COVID-19/prevention & control* ; Cross Infection/prevention & control* ; Female ; Health Personnel/statistics & numerical data* ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Respiratory Tract Diseases/virology* ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Taiwan/epidemiology*

OBJECTIVES: To study the effect of preoperative prophylactic use of antibiotics on wound infection in patients with cleft lip. METHODS: Aretrospective study was conducted on the clinical data of 1 361 patients who underwent one-stage cleft lip repair in the Department of Cleft Lip and Palate in West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, from January 2015 to November 2018. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether prophylactic antibiotics were used or not. There were 594 patients in the prevention group, including 373 unilateral incomplete cleft lip (UICL) patients, 157 unilateral complete cleft lip (UCCL) patients, 25 bilateral incomplete cleft lip (BICL) patients, 39 bilateral complete cleft lip (BCCL) patients. There were 767 patients in the non-prophylactic group, including 482 UICL patients, 211 UCCL patients, 31 BICL patients, 43 BCCL patients. The relationship between preoperative and postoperative leukocyte count, preoperative and postoperative body temperature, and postoperative wound infection were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in the leukocyte count and body temperature between both groups ( CONCLUSIONS The preoperative prophylactic use of antibiotics has no significant effect on the incidence of postoperative infection in patients undergoing cleft lip repair.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Cleft Lip/surgery* ; Cleft Palate/surgery* ; Humans ; Infant ; Surgical Wound Infection/prevention & control*

Severe cases infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), named by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Feb. 11, 2020, tend to present a hypercatabolic state because of severe systemic consumption, and are susceptible to stress ulcers and even life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding. Endoscopic diagnosis and treatment constitute an irreplaceable part in the handling of severe COVID-19 cases. Endoscopes, as reusable precision instruments with complicated structures, require more techniques than other medical devices in cleaning, disinfection, sterilization, and other reprocessing procedures. From 2016 to 2019, health care-acquired infection caused by improper endoscope reprocessing has always been among the top 5 on the list of top 10 health technology hazards issued by the Emergency Care Research Institute. Considering the highly infective nature of COVID-19 and the potential aerosol contamination therefrom, it is of pivotal significance to ensure that endoscopes are strictly reprocessed between uses. In accordance with the national standard "Regulation for Cleaning and Disinfection Technique of Flexible Endoscope (WS507-2016)," we improved the workflow of endoscope reprocessing including the selection of chemicals in an effort to ensure quality control throughout the clinical management towards COVID-19 patients. Based on the experience we attained from the 12 severe COVID-19 cases in our hospital who underwent endoscopy 23 times in total, the article provides an improved version of endoscopic reprocessing guidelines for bedside endoscopic diagnosis and treatment on COVID-19 patients for reference.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Betacoronavirus ; China ; Coronavirus Infections ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Cross Infection ; prevention & control ; Disinfection ; methods ; Endoscopes ; virology ; Equipment Contamination ; prevention & control ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pandemics ; Peracetic Acid ; Personal Protective Equipment ; Pneumonia, Viral ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Sterilization ; methods ; Workflow